PHILLIES: Manuel just fine waiting to discuss his future

PHILADELPHIA — Attention, President Obama: Charlie Manuel would appreciate it if you’d stop bugging him about his contract situation.

“My record is just as good as anyone’s in baseball,” said Manuel, whose contract as the manager of the Phillies lapses at the end of the 2013 season. “I don’t want to sound like an ‘I/Me’ guy, because I’m not. But just look at (my record), and what’s wrong with it? We want to win a World Series every year, but that’s not really possible.

“I shouldn’t have to explain it to anybody — the team, or President Obama, or anyone.”

Manuel does have some numbers to back his contention. He’s third among active managers in winning percentage (.555, behind only Joe Girardi and Davey Johnson) and needs just 53 wins this season to become the 59th manager in big-league history to have 1,000 career victories. The only managers with at least 1,000 wins and a winning percentage as high as Manuel’s who aren’t in the Baseball Hall of Fame are Johnson, Bobby Cox and former Phillies manager Steve O’Neill. The first two are almost certain to gain entrance into Cooperstown in the future.

In order to maintain a winning percentage that high, the 2013 Phils would have to win 90 games. That probably would be good enough to get the Phillies into the postseason. And that would make what the future holds for Manuel as manager beyond this season interesting. There are several players, veterans included, who only know Manuel as their manager in the majors. One of them is Carlos Ruiz, who became emotional while talking about what it has meant to have Manuel as his skipper.

“For me, I’m honored every day to play on his team,” Ruiz said. “He’s an unbelievable manager and an unbelievable person. It’s a benefit to have a manager like him for five, six years in a row. You learn everything about him, you learn how to play baseball.

“If you play with a different manager (eventually), you have to play the same way. But you feel comfortable because you know Charlie so well.”

Of course, for Manuel, the topic is a self-propelling whirlpool of aggravation. When he is asked about it, he says the lack of contractual security beyond this year doesn’t bother him. But it sounds like the topic does bother him, and he seems more irritated every time it comes up.

Saturday, Manuel wanted this instance — the first day of full-squad workouts for the Phils at Bright House Field — to be the last time he had to talk about it.

“This is the last time I’ll answer this about my deal, OK?” Manuel said at lunchtime, a few hours after giving his team his welcoming address. “I’m very satisfied with the way (the situation) is. I look at it as this is my ninth year, and I know the good things we’ve had. I’ve always given my players credit for it. I shouldn’t even have to answer what we’ve done. If I needed to get established as a big-league manager, I did that with the help of my players. If we lose 10 games or win 10 games, I don’t want people asking me about it.

“I’m not worried about it at all. I want to stay totally focused on us winning. That’s more important to me than my contract. At the end of the year, (Phillies president) David Montgomery, (general manager) Ruben (Amaro Jr.) and I will more than likely have a talk. That’s the way I see it.”

The Phillies’ 81-81 finish last season marked the first time they didn’t finish with a winning record under Manuel. In none of the 10 full seasons Manuel has managed in the majors has his team finished with a record below .500.

Manuel turned 69 last month, which by all rights is amazing considering all the maladies he encountered in his 50s: two heart attacks, a quadruple-bypass heart surgery, kidney cancer and diverticulitis, which led to colon surgery. It’s those hurdles that allow him to appreciate today and not sweat next year.

“I had so many things go wrong, one after the other,” Manuel said, recalling those illnesses. “Before that I had never been sick, then all of the sudden … it all kept snowballing.

“Right now I’m in way better shape than when I first came to work (for the Phillies in 2004). I’m in a lot better health.

“I’ve been in baseball 51 years, and right now I’m healthy and plan on staying in baseball. And I plan on managing.”

Manuel isn’t the only guy in the final year of his contract. Ruiz, Chase Utley, Roy Halladay and Michael Young are all at a crossroads in their careers this season. And Manuel believes in their ability to stay focused, just as he promises to do.

“We’ve got a lot of talent. We still have a good team,” Manuel said. “We have guys who are veteran players. People are going to say, ‘You’ve got to stay healthy, they have age on them.’ We’ll see. We definitely plan on being really competitive in our league and having a chance to win. Our goal is to win our division, go to the World Series and win — the same as always.”

If that happens, that end-of-season meeting shouldn’t require much debate.